• Email monitoring by authoritarian governments has spurred equally creative circumvention attempts.bugs attacking internet security sheild on black image by patrimonio designs from Fotolia.com
  
  The adaptability of Internet technology has given new life to George Orwell's fears of a dictatorial "Big Brother" prying into its citizens' innermost thoughts and fears. No area has aroused more debate than the surveillance of email traffic, which the European Union and United States do not monitor on a broad scale. However, as more authoritarian regimes are discovering, the most repressive measures evoke equally creative responses to circumvent them--and, in some cases, even force policy changes.
  
  

Electronic Communications Privacy Act

• Passed in 1986, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) remains America's major law to address electronic monitoring. However, courts have struggled to interpret the language consistently. In 2009, a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel held that emails were constitutionally protected--only to have the full court reverse the decision. Such rulings have roused the Digital Due Process coalition, whose members include Amazon, Google and eBay, to lobby Congress for an update of the law.
  
  

Employee Privacy Expectations

• Employee email does not enjoy the same due process protection as private email.Email LCD display image by Alex Yeung from Fotolia.com
  
  Courts have held that companies may monitor software for business reasons, or for self-protection against threats, giving employees a low expectation of privacy at work. Companies may also intercept emails after transmission, so long as a written policy exists and is enforced consistently, says Mike Spykerman, CEO of Red Earth Software. Nissan Motor Corp. applied this reasoning in 1991, when it fired two employees caught sending sexually explicit emails.
  
  

European Union

• Although European law is tighter on the collection, sale and distribution of personal information, it also requires Internet service providers to archive such data--enabling governments to investigate individual users. In March 2010, the "Christian Science Monitor" reported that the European Parliament wanted to impose similar requirements on the Google search engine. In July, U.S. President Barack Obama's administration also proposed to loosen online eavesdropping rules, without any judicial oversight.
  
  

Mobile Messaging Devices

• Handheld devices have come under increasing scrutiny from authoritarian regimes.texting a message on pda device image by Paul Hill from Fotolia.com
  
  Attempts to monitor emails have taken unexpected twists. In August 2010, India, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates threatened to block messages sent through mobile messaging devices--such as the BlackBerry--unless security services could monitor them, CBS News reported. All three nations cited the potential for terrorists' misuse of the BlackBerry's encryption capabilities. Businesses scrambled to find alternatives for employees, although none offered similar levels of security, according to CBS News.
  
  

Great Firewall Of China

• Cyberprotests in China have been credited with reversing goverment rulings limiting news coverage.China image by Madiha from Fotolia.com
  
  For a glimpse of where monitoring debates are headed, human rights advocates point to China, whose government spent eight years and $700 million to build its "Golden Shield" system of control. Nicknamed "The Great Firewall of China," the system is surprisingly easy to beat with such basic tools as encrypting technology and proxy servers, "Wired" magazine reported in 2007. As the government is learning, such tools increasingly challenge its ability to censor politically sensitive content.